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Organizational Change, Normative Control Deinstitutionalization, and Corruption

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Kelly D. Martin ,
Jean L. Johnson  and
John B. Cullen
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Abstract:

Despite widespread attention to corruption and organizational change in the literature, to our knowledge, no research has attempted to understand the linkages between these two powerful organizational phenomena. Accordingly, we draw on major theories in ethics, sociology, and management to develop a theoretical framework for understanding how organizational change can sometimes generate corruption. We extend anomie theory and ethical climate theory to articulate the deinstitutionalization of the normative control system and argue that, through this deinstitutionalization, organizations have the potential to become incubators for corruption. We qualify this process by proposing conditions more ripe for anomie and under which this deinstitutionalization is more likely to occur, propounding moderating relationships that influence organizational reconfiguration. Examples of turbulence in the contemporary business environment that can trigger change highlight our discussion. We conclude with managerial implications, offering means by which the deleterious effects of corruption may be arrested or controlled.

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Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 105 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2009

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